ART ABOUT TOWN

Mosaic project will highlight Marquette city landmarks

April 6, 2013

MARQUETTE - Judy Johnson was on a cross-country trip, visiting welcome centers and rest stops on her journey.

"I saw this mosaic in a welcome center someplace in the middle of the country, I forget where," said Johnson, an artist who lives in Skandia. "I was looking at it - it was a mosaic about the iconic spots in their area - and thought maybe it could become another community art project here in Marquette. That was it."

And so "About Town" was born.

Article Photos

The project takes five photos of important landmarks in Marquette and breaks them into grids of nine: 12-inch by 16-inch pieces. Each of these grids has been made into a laser print. Local artists will use their own media to interpret the laser print from one of the 45 grids into a finished work of art.

The 45 completed panels will be put together to form five mosaic paintings, 36 by 48 inches each, to be displayed during July's celebration of the unveiling of the refurbished Father Marquette statue.

"It might have been my idea," Johnson said. "But Michele is the one who took off with it."

Fact Box

ABOUT?TOWN:

A Community Art Project

sponsored by the Lake Superior Art Association

- Five photos from Marquette (shown above)?have been divided into nine sections each. Artists will select one or more of these sections to interpret in their own art form be it oil, acrylic, watercolor, collage, fiber...

- Each section is a 12-inch by 16-inch canvas, provided by LSAA. A laser printed image from one of the photos and a canvas can be picked up at the Marquette Arts and Culture Center in the lower level of the Peter White Public Library

- Canvasses will be assembled to create five 36-inch by 48-inch art pieces

- The finished works will be on display in the MACC during July

- The photos are of: Peter White Public Library, the Marquette Lighthouse, the Marquette County Courthouse, Old City Hall and the Rydholm Fountains at the Graveraet School.

For more information, contact Michele Tuccini at 906-250-7364.

Michele is Michele Tuccini, who has worked to coordinate "About Town" for the Lake Superior Art Association, the sponsoring organization.

"It was Judy's idea and she chose the buildings," Tuccini said. "Two of the photos (being used in the project) are mine. One is of the (Marquette) lighthouse which I took last year when they let some of us got out there and paint. The other I took is of the Graveraet (Rydholm) fountains, which I took when I was there with my grandchildren.

"The buildings Judy chose all have interesting architecture."

The five are the lighthouse, the fountains, the Marquette County Courthouse, Old City Hall and the Peter White Public Library.

About 20 of the 12-inch by 16-inch panel sections LSAA is providing for the project are still available for artists to pick up, Tuccini said. They can be picked up during normal business hours at the Marquette Arts and Culture Center, which is on the lower level of the Peter White Public Library or other arrangements can be made by contacting Tuccini via email at mtuccini@chartermi.net.

The artwork should be returned to the MACC between June 1 and June 8, but also can be brought in sooner. However, June 8 is the absolute deadline, to allow time for the assembly of the final paintings.

During the month of July, the five completed works will be on display at the Marquette Arts and Culture Center, with an artists' reception to be scheduled in conjunction with the citywide celebration of the Father Marquette Statue's unveiling.

The finished works will be the property of the LSAA and will be offered for sale after the showing, with proceeds going to support various community projects.